IRB #4 Introduction: The Last Lecture

        Thanks to this amazingly fast-seeming school year, I was startled to find that I had a fourth independent reading book to choose for my fourth and final semester as a high school Junior. Luckily, amidst my semi-scramble to dig up a suitable IRB, I've found a nugget of gold: The Last Lecture, co-authored by Randy Pausch. A former Carnegie Mellon professor of computer science, Pausch was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2006. Knowing that he had only months of good health left, Pausch took it upon himself to give his "Last Lecture", the ultimate summation of the wisdoms that his life had taught him.
        This book expands on Pausch's speech, going into great depths in order to convey what Pausch felt were the major lessons of his life. In it, I expect to find a collection of stories followed by important messages to take to heart from each. I hope to learn from The Last Lecture not just the concluding ideas of a great person, but some insight into what it is like to be at the forefront of computer science. Pausch himself pioneered a program that we spent a few weeks learning from in my Advanced Computer Science class. I simply wish to see what a man whom I respect without knowing had to say about life.